A steelhead jumps up a falls in the Lester River in Duluth in this May 2008 file photo.
News Tribune

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has decided to continue a catch-and-release-only policy on steelhead in Lake Superior and its tributaries.

The decision was announced Wednesday after fisheries officials weighed comments from anglers and angling groups.

Officials said the decision was made based on angler input and also on biological data indicating the steelhead (wild rainbow trout) population is not yet fully restored.

Steelhead first were stocked in Lake Superior in 1895 and reached their peak runs in the 1960s and 1970s. Populations declined through the 1980s and 1990s and have only recently begun to increase.

Currently, the catch rate for steelhead is 0.1, meaning that it takes the average angler 10 hours to catch a steelhead.

Angler response overwhelmingly supported continuation of the catch-and-release regulation, which has been in effect since 1997. Of 30 responses from anglers, some representing angling groups, all but three supported the no-kill regulation.

“Looking at it historically, it’s encouraging to see that the ethics of the steelhead fishery have changed, and that people appreciate how unique the fishery is,” said Don Schreiner, DNR Lake Superior area fisheries supervisor. “They’re willing to give up harvesting the fish to continue enjoying the experience.”

The Duluth Charter Captains Association, a group called Kamloops Advocates and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa were the only ones who supported a harvest of steelhead, said Matt Ward, DNR fisheries specialist at French River.

“Ten hours for one fish is not a recovery strong enough to allow a harvest,” Thorpe wrote in his comments to the DNR.

Anglers and angling groups also were asked by the DNR whether they supported different regulations on Lake Superior than on its Minnesota tributaries, and only the charter captains association supported that idea.

Most anglers and angling groups said they believed the steelhead population is recovering but that it is not “recovered,” Ward said. Many cited the challenges facing steelhead, including a diminished number of smelt, competition for forage with lake trout and harsh conditions in the North Shore tributaries where steelhead spawn.

The DNR’s data, based on streamside and lake angler surveys, as well as data from a trap on the Knife River, support the idea that steelhead are on the upswing but not yet recovered, Ward said.

“The overall population numbers are increasing,” Ward said.

It’s unlikely steelhead will ever reach the numbers seen in the 1960s and 1970s, he said.

The catch-and-release regulation for steelhead will remain in effect at least until 2015, when the DNR’s Lake Superior management plan comes up for review.